Women need to be empowered through economic inclusion, workplace equality and social support. Photo: File
Our nation’s democracy is built on the courage, resilience and the leadership of women. From the march of 1956, and their tireless struggles for freedom, women have been the backbone of our communities, our families and our economy. Today, women constitute 51% of our population — over 32 million citizens. They are the mothers raising our children, the entrepreneurs building small enterprises, the professionals shaping boardrooms and the community leaders driving change.
Indeed, significant progress has been made. Women occupy over a third of board seats in JSE-listed firms and nearly half of senior management roles in mid-sized enterprises. Yet, fewer than 3% of chief executives of our largest companies are women. More than six million households are sustained by female breadwinners and nearly 15 million women remain below the poverty line. These numbers remind us that transformation must extend beyond symbolism — it must reach unemployed women, underbanked women, women with disabilities and women living in poverty in our rural and township communities.
As we mark the end of Women’s Month 2025, it is necessary to move beyond commemoration toward decisive action. We must ensure that our policies, programmes and partnerships confront the lived realities of women. This editorial sets out five pressing themes and policy imperatives: breaking economic barriers, investing in future skills, strengthening representation, supporting female breadwinners and building inclusive markets.
1. Breaking economic barriers: Financing women’s businesses
Across South Africa, millions of women are driving small-scale businesses, often in the informal economy. Yet women remain significantly underbanked. Access to affordable finance is still skewed toward men, with women entrepreneurs facing higher rejection rates, smaller loan sizes and prohibitive interest costs.
A study of female entrepreneurs in Tshwane has revealed how targeted government support initiatives — such as Seda, the National Empowerment Fund and the Industrial Development Corporation — have enabled women-owned enterprises to grow, create jobs and stabilise incomes. Women who received state-backed funding were able to expand their businesses into new markets, formalise operations and employ others.
But the same study also exposed a troubling truth — many women remain unaware of such opportunities or find the bureaucratic hurdles too complex to navigate.
The consequence is a tale of two economies. On one end, women with stable jobs and established enterprises can access credit and scale their ventures. On the other hand, township women and those in rural villages remain trapped in cycles of part-time work and survivalist enterprises, without the capital needed to grow.
Expanding access to finance for women-owned businesses, particularly for underbanked and poor women, is both a moral imperative and an economic necessity. If women’s participation in entrepreneurship matched that of men, our GDP could increase by billions. Supporting these women is not charity — it is sound economics.
2. Investing in skills for the future: Health, nutrition and the first 1 000 days
Economic empowerment cannot be achieved without investing in the health and education of women and their children. Evidence from global and local studies confirms that the first 1 000 days of a child’s life — from conception to age two — determine lifelong health, education and productivity outcomes. For mothers, these years are equally critical, often determining whether they can participate in the labour force or are forced into long-term exclusion.
South Africa has made progress. Policies now promote eight antenatal visits for pregnant women, up from four previously, to reduce maternal and infant mortality. Skilled birth attendants deliver more than 80% of babies, while mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been reduced to near 1%. Yet glaring gaps persist.
Depression remains widespread among women during pregnancy and after childbirth, with up to 40% in some studies experiencing ante- or postnatal depression. This not only undermines maternal health but also affects infant development. At the same time, anaemia, stunting and malnutrition remain unacceptably high among women and children in low-income households. In 2012, nearly a quarter of women of reproductive age were anaemic, while over a quarter of children under three were stunted.
The South African Child Gauge of 2020 rightly described child malnutrition as a form of “slow violence”. Too many women, particularly female-headed households in low-income groups, struggle daily to put food on the table. School feeding programmes have been a lifeline, providing millions of children with at least one nutritious meal a day. Yet these programmes should not only be viewed as social welfare — they are critical enablers of women’s participation in the economy. When children receive food at school, mothers can work, study or run businesses without the constant fear of hunger at home.
The government must deepen investment in nutrition, healthcare and maternal support services. Affordable childcare and aftercare, nutrition and mental health integration into primary care are not luxuries — they are the foundations of a society that values its women and children.
3. Strengthening representation: The gender wage gap and structural barriers
Representation is not only about seats in parliament or boardrooms — it is about whether women’s labour is valued equally. South African women still earn significantly less than men, even when performing the same jobs with equivalent qualifications.
Recent research on unions and the gender wage gap revealed a sobering finding — the wage gap is not smaller in unionised sectors, as one might expect, but larger. Unionised women — particularly in teaching and nursing — often have higher education levels, yet their wages lag behind those of men in similar roles. This reflects deep structural biases in how society values “women’s work”, especially in the care sectors.
Nationally, the unemployment rate for women remains consistently higher than for men. Between 2001 and 2011, the female unemployment rate averaged 32% compared to 26% for males. Today, nearly half of young women remain unemployed. For many, career progression is constrained not by lack of skills or ambition, but by the absence of affordable childcare. Women in rural areas and townships often rely on informal or part-time work because aftercare programmes are inaccessible. By contrast, women in corporate roles can afford daycare, enabling them to pursue full-time careers.
Closing the gender wage gap requires both structural and cultural change. Employers must audit pay practices and commit to wage transparency. Unions must re-examine bargaining strategies that inadvertently entrench inequality. And the government must expand free or affordable childcare to level the playing field between working-class and professional women.
4. Supporting female breadwinners: Social protection and the motherhood penalty
More than six million South African households depend on female breadwinners. These women shoulder the dual burden of caregiving and income generation, often with little systemic support.
Motherhood remains one of the most significant barriers to women’s career progression. Research shows that, globally, one in four women exits the labour market in the first year after childbirth. Even a decade later, many remain absent or relegated to lower-paying, flexible work. In South Africa, the “motherhood penalty” manifests as lower wages, slower promotions and exclusion from leadership roles.
This penalty is not inevitable — it is the result of structural choices. Workplace cultures still equate leadership with uninterrupted availability, rewarding men who can work long hours while penalising women who must balance caregiving and work. Mothers face identity conflicts — to be a “good mother”, they must prioritise family; to be a “good employee”, they must prioritise work.
Policies must evolve to support mothers as both caregivers and professionals. Affordable childcare, flexible work arrangements, shared parental leave and strong anti-discrimination measures are critical. The government has already invested in social protection through child support and old-age grants, which disproportionately benefit women-headed households. But more must be done to integrate caregiving into economic planning.
If we support female breadwinners with robust social protection, accessible healthcare and affordable childcare, we not only reduce poverty but also unlock the full potential of women in the labour market.
5. Building inclusive markets: Procurement and economic participation
Finally, inclusive markets are essential. Too often, women entrepreneurs are excluded from lucrative procurement opportunities. Large firms and government departments continue to contract primarily with male-led businesses, reinforcing economic exclusion.
Expanding procurement from women-led businesses is a powerful lever for change. For poor women, underbanked entrepreneurs and those in rural or township economies, access to supply chains can transform livelihoods. The government must lead by example, setting ambitious targets for women-owned procurement. The private sector must follow, ensuring that women are integrated into supplier networks, value chains and export markets.
The success stories of women-led cooperatives and small businesses in Tshwane demonstrate what is possible. With the right support, women entrepreneurs expand markets, create jobs and reinvest in their communities. Scaling these interventions nationwide could dramatically shift the economic landscape.
The emancipation of women is not an act of benevolence — it is a constitutional, moral and economic imperative. Closing the gender gap in South Africa will not only add billions to our GDP and reduce poverty; it will deepen our democracy and uphold the promise of dignity and freedom for every citizen.
As we move towards the year 2030, an important year for the National Development Plan and the UN Development Goals, let us move beyond commemoration during future Women’s Months to bold action. We must dismantle the barriers that hold women back, expand opportunities that enable them to thrive and create environments where every woman — whether unemployed, underbanked, living in poverty or living with disabilities — can participate fully in our economy and society.
When women rise, South Africa rises with them. The strength of our democracy will always be measured by the dignity of its women. Our collective responsibility — across government, business, labour and civil society — is to ensure that no woman is left behind and that equality, opportunity and dignity become lived realities for all.
Paul Mashatile is the deputy president of South Africa.